Young Black Men Research Paper

A legal option exists, depending on the severity of the crime, to try juvenile offenders in the adult court system. In principle, such an option makes sense, however, systemic prejudices necessitate organizations such as the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth to advocate on behalf of unfairly treated youth offenders. Case in point, young Black men constitute a highly disproportionate number of juveniles transferred to adult courts. A history of racial biases in the American court system, coupled with ignorance on the issue in the large scale political arena exacerbates the issue. With the upcoming Presidential and Congressional elections in November, the weight lays squarely on Black politicians’ shoulders to bring light to this dark injustice.
Up to and including recent history, Blacks always suffer from governmental forays into criminal justice reform; beginning with Nixon’s Tough on Crime approach and extending to Reagan’s War on Drugs—law enforcement targets the African-American community. Even in the nineties, Bill Clinton claimed to lower unemployment and create jobs for Americans, yet young white males flourished while the unemployment rate for young, uneducated Black men …show more content…
Despite Donald Trump’s hijacking of the GOP campaign trail and the lukewarm battle brewing between Hillary and Bernie for the Democratic Nomination, Black politicians running for Senate and House seats have been presented with an opportunity to bring the issue to the table for the legislature at both the state and national level. While the presidential election appears dubious at best, the Congressional elections provide an opportunity to bring social issues such as this to the attention of legislators, the men and women who create the laws of this country and the people who possess the ability to begin bringing about systemic